When I was in college, I had a roommate named Greg at one point. He was a pretty good roommate really, although he had a tenden
cy to set early alarms and then hit the snooze button two or three times. He was a a philosophy major, and just in case anyone wonders what you can do with a philosophy major, he went on to law school and got an MBA and then a PhD. He ended up teaching Law and Statistics in a business school. We were friends on Facebook and kept up with each other there.
In 2014, Greg was diagnosed with Stage IV Lung Cancer. His prognosis was grim – just a few months. He shared his news with us on Facebook and prepared to say goodbye to us and to his family. I expected that the next post from him would actually be from his wife, announcing his death.
Instead, a few months later, we heard from him that he had taken up hiking. Wearing t-shirts that say “Cancer does not define us,” he joined others who were recovering in a program dedicated to physical health in spite of his illness. He entered chemo and radiation. He began hiking the Appalachian trail.
The reports from his oncologist came back. Greg was going into remission. His scans were coming back cleaner and cleaner. He started a company called Living Wide, dedicated to health and fitness. His entire family took up rock climbing. He persevered.
From a recent post on Facebook, it seems he is preoccupied with a rock climbing. There was no mention of the cancer.
As I have been thinking about Greg and what he is doing, I have been thinking about the big difference between those who make it when faced with difficulties, and those who don’t. The ones who make it are the ones who persevere, believing the whole time that they will get there.
Perseverance is not a word we talk about very much. Perseverance is what we do when faced with difficulties and obstacles that prevent us from moving forward. When we persevere, we find ways to move forward in spite of these obstacles. As Christians, we like to think that we have things that happen instantly and miraculously because we have asked for them. We think we don’t have to persevere. Things happen though, and they don’t turn out the way we intended. How do we respond?
Perseverance doesn’t come naturally for us. I think when faced with difficult times, our first response is to withdraw into a wilderness of isolation and self-sufficiency. Greg withdrew at first, until something drew him out again.
I think that is always God’s response to difficulty in our lives. God’s response is always to try to draw us out of our self-imposed wilderness. God has another purpose for us. He feeds and sustains us for the journey, so that we can persevere.
So that’s the rhythm – 1) We withdraw. 2) God draws us out, 3) God feeds us.
I have preached on desert places before. These are places we find ourselves, and part of our culture or human nature maybe wants us to believe we are self-sufficient. We don’t need anyone. We don’t need God. We don’t see how wrong we are.
In our Gospel lesson today, the people follow Jesus. They have been fed once by him and they want more. They are actually in the own wilderness. They don’t see Jesus for who he really is. Jesus is the Son of God and the Bread of Life. Jesus is the one who will enable them to persevere in their own difficult lives.
One of the reasons they do not recognize Jesus as the son of God is because they think they know him. They know his mother and father. They know that he is from Nazareth, so how could he be from God? They are blind to the true identity of Jesus. They are blind to the true nature of the Bread they have been given.
Those who are trying to follow Jesus today can find ourselves resisting Jesus too. Jesus tells us that no one comes to the Father unless they are drawn by Him. We resist this being drawn. We want to be self-sufficient and independent.
Jesus is inviting us closer. He is offering us the Bread of Life.
What do we do when we find ourselves in the wilderness? Many of us can identify with Greg. We knew what it is like to feel lost and abandoned. How do we react? One response is to go deeper into the wilderness. We isolate ourselves from Community.
When things get difficult, some people get angry at God because he is not doing what we tell him to. Some people quit going to church when they don’t get what they want. They reject the food that will sustain us and enable us to persevere.
God is constantly trying to draw us closer. We don’t see the manna he has provided for us.
In the wilderness, our lives and vocations are reshaped. Freed from the bondage of self, God calls us to rely on Him. We are reshaped with more honest and authentic lives. We are reshaped to bear Christ into the world.
We must persevere, and we need to stop resisting God’s attempt to draw us out of our own wilderness. We have all kinds of reasons for wanting to stay right where we are.
Jesus is the Son of God and the Bread of Life. He is calling us out.
I have said these words in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sermon preached by Fr. Tom at Pric
e’s Park, Plymouth
August 12, 2018; Twelfth Sunday of Pentecost
2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
Psalm 130
Ephesians 4:25-5:2
John 6:35, 41-51